The Seven Major Stages Of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disorder that affects as much as 6 million people in the United States. The disorder leads to considerable memory loss, serious personality changes, changes in movement and coordination, and a host of other symptoms. This disease is characterized by 7 stages or symptom levels, and each of the stages is distinguished by the severity of symptoms. The 7 major stages were developed by scientists and health researchers, and are often used to properly describe how you or your family member or relative will change or get worse over time. Your physician may also classify the stages as early, middle, late, mild, moderate or severe.
Alzheimer's Stage 1
Stage 1 is a phase where you or your family member or relative will show no visible problems with memory, concentration, communication, judgment or coordination. Basically, the person looks and feels like a fully-functioning individual at this stage.
Alzheimer's Stage 2
During Stage 2, minimum impairment is seen, and the person may experience a few lapses in judgment, memory or cognitive loss. However, you won’t easily detect any changes in the individual. You probably won’t notice anything even if the person undergoes a medical examination.
Alzheimer's Stage 3
During this phase, you will start to notice mild alterations in the person’s memory and communication patterns. The common symptoms during this stage include a decrease in planning or organizational skills, problems with remembering people’s names, as well as remembering the right words for objects. There will also be a slight difficulty experienced when functioning in social occasions or at work. Most patients will also forget the material they just read, as well as misplace items and objects with greater frequency.
Early-Stage Alzheimer’s - Stage 4
During this stage, the person shows more cognitive decline. The person will become increasingly forgetful, especially of recent events and details. An individual also experiences significant impairment in mathematical ability, and also has problems with completing complex tasks such as managing finances, handling staff or children, and will also experience moodiness and social withdrawal.
Middle-Stage Alzheimer’s – Stage 5
During this phase, the affected individual may require assistance with performing daily tasks, and will also exhibit noticeable symptoms such as disorientation to time and place, obvious lack for personal care and demeanor, and the decreased ability to recall vital details about his or her personal history.
Moderate To Late Stage Alzheimer’s
During this stage, the patient experiences serious personality and behavioral changes. This includes bowel and bladder incontinence, repetitive verbal and non-verbal behavior, frequent wandering, increased agitation and restlessness, and problems with recognizing spouse, siblings and family members.
Severe Alzheimer’s – Stage 7
During this stage, the person’s ability to properly function is severely impaired, and he or she will experience difficulty with motor coordination and eating. Stage 7 patients generally require round-the-clock care and supervision by a caregiver or physician.
Although the seven stages can help to provide you a clear glimpse of the progression of the disease, you need to know that not everyone advances in the same manner. The following stages however will help in allowing you to understand the onset of symptoms, and will prepare you for handling the challenges that may arise.